Winning is great, winning with family even better for Busch brothers
[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”240″]
[/media-credit]When Kyle Busch won for the first time driving his own equipment, Kyle Busch Motorsports, in the Camping World Truck Series in 2010 at Nashville he thought there was nothing better.
Friday night in Richmond he found out there was. Winning with family. Older brother Kurt delivered KBM their first Nationwide Series win in its seventh race. It was the fourth career win for Kurt, who beat Denny Hamlin by 0.062 seconds, the closest in NNS history at Richmond.
“It’s great to get to Victory Lane as a family,” said Kurt. “Kyle won his first Nationwide Series race here and got to celebrate with him in Victory Lane and it brings back those memories of working hard as a family to get to the top levels of NASCAR. Dad taught us everything we know about cars and mom was there to sacrifice as much as he did.
“To see what Kyle has put together, to stick his neck out and hire guys like [crew chef] Mike Beam, Rick Ren [General Manager] and a full staff of employees and to be able to win and put it all together like we have, this is a solid finish for us tonight for a great sponsor like Monster Energy.
“They do so much in the extreme sports sector and to be able to deliver in the NASCAR world, there’s millions of viewers that were watching tonight and I’m sure the phone is just blowing up and the battery is already dead how excited those guys are from Corona, California to hoist up a NASCAR trophy. I’m stoked, I know Kyle is, I know Beam is and everybody at Kyle Busch Motorsports, this was a great day for us.”
The emotion from the brothers were genuine, fresh and much needed for both. They’ve had their ups and downs, both together and separately. After wrecking each other in 2007 during the Sprint All-Star race they stopped talking until grandma intervened.
They’ve both moved on from high profile teams, been ridiculed by the fans and the media, parked on race day only to keep coming back. To keep winning and proving others wrong.
When Busch brought KBM to the NNS he could have chosen to drive the entire season himself, hired an up and coming driver or one without a ride.
Instead he turned to his brother.
The season hasn’t started like each brother would have wanted in the Cup Series, struggling to finish where they should be on Sunday’s while trying to make KBM the company they believe it can be on Saturday’s.
Friday night though, everything finally fell into place. As Kurt attempted to hold off a hard charging Hamlin, Kyle watched from the pit box, heart racing more than it ever had before. Even when he was fighting for a win or heading towards a close finish, it was much worse having to watch.
He felt hopeless, knowing there was nothing he could do as Hamlin went to the inside of the No. 54 at the white flag. Kyle badly wanted to get on the radio, but held back and let Kurt do his job, just praying that his older would bring it back home.
After hearing the spotter start screaming on the radio there was nothing but relief floating through him. They’d finally done it. All the hard work during the offseason, the money spent to put the team together, the incredible hours put in by KBM employees had paid off.
“It means a lot to win in the Truck Series ranks and now in the Nationwide Series ranks with Kyle Busch Motorsports,” Kyle said afterwards. “It’s come a long way, it’s grown so much and this levels a lot harder. Coming from me or Kurt or Mike, we’ll tell you, we’ll attest to it. It means a lot.
“For Kurt driving to win the first race for KBM in the Nationwide Series and for Monster Energy in NASCAR, such a special occasion, we’re pumped about it. This is one we’ll celebrate for sure tonight … for Kyle Busch Motorsports this is a special day.”
He also said their win was a great accomplishment being that they are a single car team. Their now the little guys in the series instead of normally being the big team who dominates and win races. Such as he did with JGR, who Hamlin was driving for on Friday and in the same car.
Kurt agreed, noting that a driver quickly realizes how good they have it and how much respect the big teams should get when they go from one like Penske or Roush, to KBM. Expectations were there entering the season but they knew they had to think and work as hard as ever to get to the top and win.
Now that they have, Kyle joked he doesn’t care what happens from here on out. But there’s no doubt that he’ll be as hungry as ever when it’s his turn to get back in the car, ready to match Kurt’s feat.
Who will win more this season, little brother or big brother? How many races will KBM earn in their first season? Can they win the owner’s championship while they’re at it?
Those are all chapters ready to be written in the Busch brother’s newest family book. And as they do so the emotions of how special winning together is, just as it was on Friday night in April at Richmond, will always be there.
“With 20 to go I was like, this is that moment in time of, you’re racing for brother, you’re the employee even though you’re the older brother, so you got to deliver,” said Kurt of his thoughts behind the wheel.
“All the stress that all these crew guys have been through from the beginning of the year. And yes, racing for guys like Roush, guys like Penske, it’s a different feeling when you’re racing as a family.”
The Void Left by the Death of David Poole
[media-credit name=”The Charlotte Observer” align=”alignright” width=”240″]
[/media-credit]Today marks the third anniversary of the death of David Poole. For you younger fans, David was the NASCAR reporter for the Charlotte Observer, as well as one of the hosts of SiriusXM’s morning show. Many read his columns in their local newspapers and heard him on the radio. He was NASCAR’s greatest critic, but also one of the press’s most knowledgeable writers.
My first encounter with David was at Rockingham in 1998. I had just started writing for Racing Information Systems (now Racing Information Service) that season. Mike Hollander had given me a shot at covering races on the recommendation of our editor, Mike Snow. I was a rookie and forgot I was still as fan. As the cars of Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth were coming to the finish, I forgot I was reporting and stood up in front of David. The press box at Rockingham is tiered, but David was short and I blocked his view. He yelled at me, “Sit down dammit.” That booming voice always heard in the press box was the voice of authority. I quickly sat down. Since I knew who he was, I was embarrassed. Afterwards, he walked up to me and gave me some lessons on how to act as a member of the press. That began about 11 years of acquaintance. No, I wasn’t his friend, but we often talked, and I learned a lot about the business. I miss him.
My beat has always been Rockingham (when it was still on the circuit), Bristol, Martinsville, and Charlotte. Each time, David was always there. I usually saw him in the press box, except at Charlotte and Bristol where most of us internet types are exiled to the infield media center. Luckily at Rockingham and Martinsville, I always had a press box seat in those days, usually sitting in the row below David and other star reporters like David, Monte Dutton, Lee Spencer and others. I got to hear his opinions on most stuff, racing or not, and he always talked to me. He often was the loudest and most opinionated voice in the press box. You knew he was there. He hated restrictor plate racing and what he considered the failings of the sanctioning body.
I have lots of Poole stories. There are too many to tell, but one time we arrived at the track at Rockingham at the same time. It was the November after 9-11 and security was really tight. I watched as they took out nearly everything in David’s bag, put it on a table, and looked at every item. Expecting a firestorm of comments, he said nothing, which surprised me. Finally I said, “Why are they doing this to you? Don’t they know who you are?” He laughed and said it was a NASCAR plot to get back at him.
As Monte Dutton tweeted to me today, a common thought in press areas is the following: What would Poole do? I’d like to hear his take on Hendrick Motorsports getting favorable treatment in an appeal by a former GM executive who had more than a passing relationship with the car owner. I’d love to hear what he thinks about Bruton Smith tearing up the track at Bristol. I’d love to hear his thoughts on Danica and Junior, but I can’t. When David left us, the anti-sanctioning body element was reduced by maybe 50%. Most of what the public gets is a large range of PR about how wonderful the racing is and why fans are all wrong about what they think. Never mind there are things wrong that need to be addresses, life is wonderful and if you don’t think that, there is something wrong with you. A half house at Bristol? It had to be the economy or some other reason because it wasn’t the racing. What about super secret fines? A lack of cautions or a boring race? David would have told it as he saw it. No excuses. Just reporting what he saw and felt. Too many times, the public gets PR, and that is not the purpose of the reporter.
There will probably never be another David Poole, and he left a void as big as the state of North Carolina in the way folks interpret this sport. And that’s why, on this third anniversary of his death, I’m missing him. Rest in peace, David.
